Yee I-Lann
Mansau-Ansau
Singapore Art Museum

In her recent solo exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum, artist Yee I-Lann beckoned visitors to sit on a tikar, a Malay mat of the sort made in her northern Borneo homeland of Sabah and central to her artistic iconography. Stepping shoeless onto TEPO PUTIH (White Mat) (2019), an oversized, unadorned example produced in collaboration with Bajau Sama Dilaut weavers from Omadal Island, one immediately felt its inviting softness underfoot. The pandanus leaf mat was a gathering point for experiencing PANGKIS (2021), a video in which dancers, connected by a reimagined seven-headed Murut warrior headdress, perform hypnotic movements punctuated by cries that echoed throughout the gallery.